Fallen From Grace
by AnaCallisto
Summary: It can be searing, throbing, pulling, burning, or tingling. It's consumption, and like drowning. It's a Pulse
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer (dis-claim-her): I don't own naruto or any of its characters, but I do own the way that these words form together into this lovely lil piece of work.

Chapter 1: Voluntary Decimation.

She didn't know how long he'd been standing there, shoulder to shoulder with her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his dark blue pants. But then again she didn't really care. It wasn't often that someone voluntarily stayed in her company, and Anko would be damned if she ruined whatever little moment of decent camaraderie she could get. Or at least she tried not to.

"We're getting wet." A smile spread across his covered face, and though she couldn't see, he knew that she knew it was there.

And as predicted, she smirked. "You're ability for stating the obvious _never_ ceases to amaze me." _I tried, honestly I did._

Silence poured between them for a moment, sliding off their skin much like the tiny drops of water that dripped from overhead tree limbs and trailed along her cheeks, or clung to his usually untamable hair.

His voice was a whisper, barely louder than the rain its self, yet it seemed to shatter the quietness like glass. "Which do you think hurts more, trying to out run the past, or attempting to drown yourself in it?"

"Hm." She bit down on the tip of her thumb, a habit he noticed that she'd develop as of late, and frowned. "The first one."

One of his eyebrows arched but he said nothing, instead opting for a nod so that she would explain.

"Its like a never ending game of chess when you run, always trying to keep one step a head of your opponent. The problem is, that your opponent happens to memories and feelings. Thoughts that can creep along your subconscious like spiders, small and venomous." She turns to face him then, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "And it always points toward the same outcome. A damned checkmate."

Again he nods, this time in consideration, before kneeling down so that his arms rest upon his knees. "But is it not possible, that purposely subjecting one's self to such thoughts can cause an extreme amount of damage?"

There was a hitch in his voice that she did not fail to notice, but refused to comment on. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the trunk of a large tree. "Which would be easier, to face your death with open arms, or to run from it, knowing that eventually you'd be caught?"

He tilted his head back in order to glance at her. "Do you enjoying poking holes into my arguments?"

She smiled, and again he noticed for the umpteenth time this week, that it refuses to reach her eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think," Kakashi stood, wiping mud from his pants legs. "that your past can easily become an obsession."

Thunder rumbled overhead, causing both ninja to look up at the sky as lighting splits it into tiny pieces.

And she frowned, this time biting down on her lip. "And who could ever compete with an obsession?"

The question was rhetorical. He knew that. And so he allowed silence to claim them once more, watching as she lounged against the massive trunk.

Later, when he was tucked away into his bed due to the flu, he would find it mildly amusing that she blamed _him_ for her cold.

**And yet another magnificently short piece of work created by yours truly (--;). Even though I don't know squat about anko, I think this turned out pretty well. At least it was fun to write… **


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: if I owned naruto, then him an' gaara wouldn't have to be treated like crap by so many people.

Chapter 2: Point Blank

"Damn it." The words rolled themselves from his tongue, hanging in the atmosphere's humidity before being joined by quiet sobs. "Damn it all to hell." Calloused hands closed around clumps of grass, digging so hard that the skin beneath his fingernails began too break. "Why me? Why in the blue hell does everybody have to hate me?" Tears streamed from blue eyes until he forced them closed, tightening his grip on the ground. "Why can't anybody love me?"

"'Cause the rest of the world jus' doesn't believe in usin' common sense anymore, kid." Chocolate colored eyes pulled away from the sight in front of her, narrowing with an all to familiar feeling. "They're worried. Fearful that they can't make you submit to their wills, 'cause you're different. An' when people are afraid, they throw piss parties, tryin' to break you down 'til there's nothing left of you but a fuckin' shell. Wanting you to be what they're scared they'll become."

Her words were a whisper, and for the briefest of moments he thought she hadn't spoken at all. But then her hand pressed against her shoulder and chocolate pools squeezed shut.

"People turn you into their own personal martyr, ripping your soul apart jus' so they don't have to look into their own."

Vibrant blue eyes locked onto her figure, cloaked in shadows caused by a dying sun. _No, not dying. The sun's been dead to me for years._ "But why! I'm only a kid! I haven't done anything wrong! And yet, these self absorbed jerks just look at me like mud stuck to the bottom of their shoes! They throw things at me, spit and kick and beat on me! I can't even go three freakin' feet without somebody cursing the day I was born!"

"Naru-

"No matter what I do, I'll never be good enough for anything! Or, for anyone." His voice dropped so suddenly that she had to strain to hear him. "I hate it. All those cold, empty stares and the fake smiles."

"It makes you want to fade away, doesn't it?" In a display so unlike her usual firm and rough demeanor, Anko knelt before the boy and pulled him against her into a soft hug. "Makes your lungs burn 'til you jus' don't want to _be_ anymore." Nimble fingers ran themselves through unruly blonde hair as a pair of arms clung desperately to her waist, as though he were afraid she would disappear.

"I…" Again he closed his eyes, fresh tears building up behind his lashes. "I don't wanna be alone anymore."

And once more, with gentleness she'd never believed herself capable of, Anko tilted his head up so that he would look at her. "Alone? You're jokin' right?"

Confusion settled across his features until the metal of her forehead protector pressed into his own.

For the first time in days, Anko's dark brown eyes lit up as a smile graced her lips. "You've got me now, kid. We're two of a kind."

Smiling despite his tears, Naruto gave a nod before lying his head back on her stomach. "Yeah. Two of a kind."

**_Part 2 done! I'm not sure when the next part will be up, but hopefully it'll be better than this one hope you guys enjoy, drop me a line by clickin' on dat lil box in the left hand corner… (- -;)_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_I know it's been a minute, but now the kid is back to do what I do… Disclaimer: I own you, so get over it. _**

**_Chapter 3: Pulse_**

It itches sometimes. Though not often enough in her oh so humble opinion. Because when the damnable thing isn't itching, it's searing with a pain so unbearable that it almost feels alive to her. Like it can jump up and out of her skin. And just like the lightning that splits the night time sky, it runs through her blood stream, attempting to fry her entire system. _Pain like this shouldn't even be possible_…

It throbs. And too many times for him to count, he has found him self being forced to his knees with a hand clasping the side of his face. Thankfully, this always happens in the sanctuary of his own room, when the lights are still off, and he can't even make out the color of his own deathly pale skin. _This, _he muses, though not as indifferently as he likes to pretend, _is just plain cruel…_

It's a feeling that shoots through her chest every time she sees him (sometimes even before she sees him, because the smell of those God awful cigarettes reaches her long before his body does). And that feeling stays with her all day, because that's where he is. With her. Conversation is not rare between them, he asks about her day, and she in turn, inquires about his own. Talking, however, seems to be a whole ball park. But then again, _when had conversating, and talking become two different things…_

It burns him, often to a point where he has to clutch at his chest, green eyes closed to override the sudden bout of vertigo that has lay claim to his body. It's a feeling that hits him only when he comes home to the absence of wood shavings on the floor, or the smell of burnt cooking to fill his nose. And although he knows that they're gone (after all, _he_ was the one to send them off), that damned emotion never, _never_ fails to throw him for a proverbial loop. After all, it is only natural. _We've finally become a family…_

_ It tingled. _That's the only way she knows how to describe it. The only way she can explain why a simple glance always made her breath catch in her lungs or a touch could damn near send her into cardiac arrest. He almost never smiled, but she had accepted that. Like it went against some set of unwritten laws, and God forbid if he should so much as flash a glimpse of pearly white. Even now, it tingled. Whenever she drew in a breath, his name would spring, unbidden, onto her tongue and tears would make their presence felt in the corners of her eyes. _This is so not fair…_

_ Overall consumption. _That's what she tells herself every time his image begins to flood her mind's eye. _It's like I've been drugged. _He drifts into her system with an ease that unnerves her, almost as much as his ability to create and execute near flawless plans, and sometimes she's not sure whether to smile at his memory or to scream until her lungs decide to burst. She keeps a shogi board in the corner of her room now, placed on her windowsill, with the pieces carefully set on both sides. _And now I'm addicted…_

It's akin to drowning, the way he feels whenever people turn to look at him. They glare down from the tips of their noses, and for a moment, just a tiny second, the always present grin falters, and he can feel _it_ pushing against those tightly coiled restraints. The inside of his chest aches, while colors flash in the corners of his eyes. Red and then white, black and then crimson. _Life,_ he snorts quietly, _can really suck..._

**_It's the end of chapter 3, ladies and gents. Just in case anyone was curious, the order for this piece is; Anko, Kakashi, Kurenai, Gaara, Sakura, Temari, and of course, Naruto. Hopefully, you guys enjoy my ramblings. If not, well… what does one say to that? _**


End file.
